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If Zack Chapple’s belt had any holes in it, he’d probably loosen it a notch or two.

Chapple is breathing a lot easier now that his fledgling men’s fashion business — he markets
perforation-free belts — has secured a much-needed capital infusion through “crowdfunding,”
seemingly the new best friend of entrepreneurs everywhere.

The 26-year-old Marysville resident said the money increases the likelihood that, someday, his
belts will be holding up pants all over the world.

"They hold up quite a few pants already,” he quipped.

Chapple, a software engineer by training, has been selling belts online for about a year, his
product line inspired by a belt he ran across during a 2010 visit to his wife’s native country,
China.

“My wife and I were actually hiking around her hometown, and my belt broke,” he recalled. “I
ended up buying a new belt while I was there, and it was something we’d never seen before.”

Although it lacked holes, the belt could be easily adjusted in increments far tinier than a
standard belt allows.

Chapple said it was a godsend for someone like him — “kind of a bigger guy” with an
ever-fluctuating waistline. (“I’m anywhere from one to three holes different, depending on what
week it is or how ‘healthy’ of a meal I’ve just eaten.”)

Much to his wife’s chagrin, Chapple spent the next year showing his new belt to friends,
relatives, even strangers.

“We would be standing in line at a food court or getting coffee somewhere, and she would turn
around and see me taking off my belt again,” he said. “Everyone I showed this belt to thought it
was awesome, and, in that year, I did not meet a single person that had seen a belt like that
before.”

Chapple saw something else: a business opportunity. He had one of his wife’s former classmates
buy 60 belts and ship them to Ohio, where he resold them at a profit. Eventually, he found a
manufacturer closer to home, and Completely Royal was born.

The company’s standard belt features closely spaced vertical ridges, or ribs, instead of
traditional holes. The “buckle” contains an angled lever — known formally as a pawl — that, until
released, allows the belt to travel in just one direction.

“When you feed it into the buckle, kind of like a zip-tie, it ratchets,” Chapple said, his
demonstration producing a rapid-fire “click-click-click” more often associated with a spring-loaded
socket wrench.

Chapple’s website, completelyroyal.com, offers leather belt straps in several colors and
textures. The corresponding metal buckles come in an even-wider variety of designs and
finishes.

Chapple’s next big thing: a ratcheting belt buckle that’s almost indistinguishable from its
traditional counterpart — that is, a metal frame with an “empty middle” that showcases, rather than
obscures, the underlying leather.

“We found some good examples and had a couple of prototypes,” he said. “We went to the
manufacturer and said, ‘This is what we want.’ And they said, ‘Well, if you want to do that, there’s
going to be a die cost; manufacturing is expensive.’

“So that’s why we decided we’d go with crowdfunding.”

In the past few years, more than 450 crowdfunding platforms, or websites, have sprung up to help
artists, designers and cash-hungry entrepreneurs amass grass-roots financial support.

The global management consultant McKinsey & Co. reports that such sites are “revolutionizing
everything from philanthropy to microlending by allowing many small donors or lenders to pool their
resources online to support a common goal.”

Chapple settled on Kickstarter, which, since its launch in 2009, has helped direct

$830 million to more than 50,000 ventures, including hundreds of startups such as Completely
Royal.

One thing that sets Kickstarter apart in the increasingly crowded crowdfunding industry is its
all-or-nothing approach: If a project doesn’t reach its goal in the allotted time, the person or
organization seeking financial support goes away empty-handed.

Chapple’s Kickstarter appeal went live on Sept. 17. His goal: to raise $17,500 within 30
days.

The “rewards” awaiting those who joined the “Completely Royal family” ranged from a
leather-wrapped shoehorn (available to backers pledging $10) to a “limited-edition gift set”
featuring three belts (reserved for those willing to put up at least $250).

“We see timing being the biggest possible issue for us,” Chapple wrote in his online pitch. “
Since we are so close to the holiday season, we are a little at risk if we do not hit our goal
until the very end of this 30-day Kickstarter.”

Chapple needn’t have worried: He reached his goal in

14 days, and, by the time the specified “funding period” expired on Thursday, 625 backers had
pledged $46,571 — more than 21/2 times the amount he was seeking. (Kickstarter keeps

5 percent.)

“The crowdfunding platform is really advantageous, because you’re able to get your idea out to
the masses really quick,” he said.

Now, thanks to his successful foray into crowdfunding, Chapple can shift his focus to another
make-or-break deadline: Christmas is 67 shopping days away.